Also, I think it's hilarious that anytime I mention Rodionova to anyone around the grounds, their immediate reaction is either (1) an eye roll and/or (2) a chuckled "what a bitch." Her brand of crazy precedes her.

Got to watch Nole practice a bit this morning. Thankfully (or not) no one really cared so I could get up close and personal with the chainlink fence. Pretty sure I still have impression marks all over my chest but it was well worth it.

Seriously, I was close.

Like...creepy close.

Kid had to fight off that pesky buddy of his in five sets under the rough NY sun today. But he lives to fight another day and he has to be happy about his his body was able to hold up.

I realize I forgot to write-up the Ana match from Monday. It was, in a word, awesome. Ana played the best I've seen her play in a long time, stepping in to terminate points, hitting winners, and staying positive. She's starting to get that look again where she expects to win, as opposed to simply hoping or wanting to win. It sounds like a subtle difference but in the grand scheme of things, it's not.

We sat courtside on Armstrong and we were screaming our heads off, so much so that we were apparently very audible on TV. Glad to hear our efforts weren't wasted. Miljan even got a high five from Leather after the match. He was going to say something to Dragana but...well...she's intimidating, even to Serbs.

I don't have a ticket to Ashe tomorrow so I won't be able to see Ana play her second round match vs. Zheng. But if she plays like she did on Monday, I won't be too worried.

After Dinara's loss, I had a bad feeling about things as Sam took Armstrong. Hahaha, US Open organizers. Nice court choice. Don't think the irony is lost on me. Bastards.

From the minute Sam took the court I was pretty much yelling my head off. I had to make a good impression because her family is in town. Papa Stosur's there in the blue and Mama is hiding behind the magazine. Probably because she had the same sense of impending doom that I did. This was one of the toughest first round matchups on the slate.

Sitting across from me were The StoBros. Well, at least one of them. I know the one on the far right with the blue cap is her little brother Dominic. Miljan actually rode the train in with them and said they got a biiiiit annoyed when he asked them if they were going to watch Lleyton. Hilarious.

Unfortunately the match was more of the same of what I've seen from Sam in the past few weeks. No aces, ineffective backhand slice, and the forehand is just not getting through the court or kicking as much as she'd like it to. Sam had to come back from a set and a break down to pull this one off, with a bit of help from Vezzie, who had a bit of a choke in the second set. But a win is a win at this point and I just have to keep reminding myself that I'll be happy if she gets past the second round.

My day started with a little Dinara warming up on Armstrong. I figured I should probably soak this in as much as possible all things considered. I've unfortunately had to apply my Ivanovician "If you don't see her early you may not see her at all" tactic to Dinara. As we all know, it was a wise decision.

Dani tweeting away as she waits for Dinara to stop wheezing and get off the court.

Sania! She was absolutely CRUSHING the ball during her practice session and it was nice to hear that she beat Burrito later that day.

I...I...I can't even deal with that dress. First of all, it looks two sizes too big. Second, it looks, in person, like it's made of pleather. Third, well, Yonex designed it so the first two points were a given. Fugly dress notwithstanding, she won in front of a rather packed crowd on Court 11.

I was way too distracted by Rafa and Sam that I didn't even notice that Gilles was Rafa's practice partner. In fact, I do believe my inside voice actually muttered "What the fuck is up with Rafa's skinny, scrubby hitting partner?" Shame on me.

Walked by Court 6 right as Kleybs won her match. Kept my distance. Didn't know if she'd start shaking the sweat off or not.

Ran off to get some food (a hotdog and waffle fries in case you didn't care) and came back to see Ana and Flavia practicing together on Court 5. My hands were full of food so I literally stood courtside as I downed my hotdog in four bites. You know that scene from 30 Rock with the sandwich at the airport? Moi.

My phone was all crapped out all day (assume it's a network issue because it's fine when I get back to Manhattan) and I was having trouble hooking up with Lexi, who was busy boozing it up all over the grounds. But once she saw my message that Ana and Flavia were hitting, she found me. I'm predictable like that.

Flavia talking to Stefano, her physio, who I rather randomly met at a bar the other night. He is so so so nice. I have to say, one of the nicest "entourage" folks I've met. Well, he's doing his job right because the toe seems to be ok. She won later that night.

Then it was time for Coco, who couldn't back up last week's tight win over Dani. Not entirely unexpected, really, but still a bummer. But at least Dani had to play well to beat her.

So I have this weird thing about pics. If there's a huge crowd I generally won't venture through to get a clean shot unless my favorite players are involved. This typically applies to Rafa, who is always surrounded by crowds that go 5-7 rows deep. I just assume that everyone else there is a bigger fan than I am and thus I let them get the prime spots and go merrily on my way.

So there I was just chilling out when I saw that little corgi-colored ponytail flopping about. I'm not saying how I got to the front but let's just say a few kids had to die. That's all I'll cop to. Oh and to the guy who kept at me to sit down: Shut the fuck up.

So you guys can thank Sam for not only these Rafa pics (which aren't that great, sorry) but also for rather hilariously scurrying over to stop an errant ball that was about to roll onto Rafa's court as he was serving. She's a RafaKAD, after all. Can't have him going down on her watch.

Today was all about the Serbs. I was sitting courtside, taking in some Deliciano, when I got an email from FDer Miljan that Sam was practicing on Grandstand. Needless to say I literally sprinted off the court, pausing only momentarily to chat with Christina and Lexi, before unpolitely excusing myself because, as they knew, I had to see Sam.

Unfortunately I got there right as her practice was ending. But I did get to finally meet Miljan and snapped some pics of Sam. And I am just going to say it because I have no shame: guy or girl, there is nothing sexier than a sweaty grey t-shirt. It's kryptonite to me.

She was in good spirits, no doubt because she knew I was creepily standing nearby.

Hi, Sam.

After a walk around the grounds, my new BFF and future hubby Miljan and I headed back to Armstrong, where low and behold, we saw this sexy motherfucker:

Even in that dorky cap (which Miljan was able to get) he was delicious as ever, all sweaty, tan, and charming. It kills me.

He was practicing with Daveed, and let's be honest, Nole got his ass kicked. It was some intense hitting and really fun to watch.

As Nole was wrapping up we saw a familiar face waiting to take the court. Miljan squealed like a little schoolgirl. Ok, he didn't. That may have been me.

The kid is clearly familiar with Nole's team.

And then there was this. And I really did squeal.

They chatted for a bit, with Nole asking about Ana's foot and Ana
explaining what happened. At least that's what I'm told was going on
thanks to Miljan (who, on top of that ugly-ass Sergio hat, also got
Leather to get Ana to give him her visor).

Trust me, I love Adam and I love Jelena. But I want so badly for these to to have sex and make beautiful tan babies. I can't help it. I know they're all brother/sister with each other but they're just so cute when they interact.

August 28, 2010

As the day wound down I caught most of Ana's evening practice session. She hit with Peppermint Patty, presumably to get used to the left spin she'll face against Makarova in the first round.

And yes, the ankle is taped up and ready to go. She was moving better than I would have expected.

She seemed in good spirits, except for a bit of frustration towards the end of their practice session. They hit for what seemed like more than an hour, playing full games for a set. Ana was killing Patty in the beginning, but by the end, perhaps due to fatigue, she was boinking everything all over the place.

Stop flirting, kid. She's taken.

Like a good kid, she stuck around to sign autographs for quite a while. In fact, she stuck around longer than any other player I had seen all day.

I've been bitching and moaning about my new camera's flip out swivel screen, but it sure has come in handy this week. With the crowds, it's impossible to get pics from my 5'2'' eye level. These are me holding my camera up, Say Anything-style, and viewing through the swivel screen. Value added, Canon.

The main reason I skipped out early on New Haven was to see L-Rob try to qualify. She had a great win over Dokic in the first round, and yesterday she took care of Vesna Manasieva in straight sets. I was sitting courtside at Court 7 and, despite my jokes to the contrary, was quietly cheering. Some clapping here, some "C'mon, Robbie" there, but for the most part, I kept my idiotic cheering tendencies in check.

So, a little bit of backstory. Laura and I go back a long way. And by that I mean we had gone back and forth on Twitter two months ago discussing The Cove and Inception. It was super random and I had no idea why she was responding to me, but hey, who am I to argue? So after she won yesterday I figured that it would be a bit rude not to try and introduce myself and just say hello.

So I made my way over to the gate after her match, stood by as people took pictures with her and whatnot, and as she started making her way back to the player's area, I jumped in with a "Hey, Laura? Hi. I'm the one who sent you those articles on Incep--" And before I could finish she looked at me with a glint of recognition and smiled. "I thought that was you." Apparently, her friend reads FD (Hi, Genie!) and told her to look out for a wee Asian girl who would be cheering her on. I walked with her for a bit, we chatted about something (I seriously I don't remember what), and then I excused myself, told her I'd be back tomorrow to cheer for her, and said goodbye. It was great, despite the fact that Robbie made it a point to remind me that I am old.

"I was trying not to cheer too loudly. I wanted to yell "Sweep The Leg, Robbie" but I didn't want it to get distracting."

"I have no idea what that means."

"Sweep the leg? From Karate Kid? The first one. Not the crappy fourth one you just watched."

"Ohhh. Haven't seen it."

Anyway. She was super nice and great and I'm running out of superlatives. A poised 16 year-old, that one.

So then today rolls around and I make my way to Court 4. Last year, Robbie was up 4-1 in the third on her way towards qualifying when she a bit of a meltdown and eventually lost the match. So here were were again. Robbie and the rather midgety Llagostera Vives, wily vet, split sets and L-Rob was up with an early break in the third at 3-1.

Sadly she would lose the next five games. That court fucking sucks.

But I had a blast watching her play these past two days. I love that lefty forehand and her little quips are worth the price of admission alone. She's snarky, self-deprecating, and entirely self-aware. My favorite was from today in a moment of frustration:

"Push, push, push, push, push, until somebody misses. And that's me."

It'll probably be another year until I get a chance to see Robbie play again. Here's hoping the USO organizers show some mercy and put her on any court not named Court 4.

After the rough day of New Haven quarterfinals I decided to bypass the semifinals and take the train down to New York to get the lay of the land in Flushing Meadows and catch some qualie action. I rustled my way out of bed to hop on the 9am train with my iPod, journal, and horrible styrofoam cup full of something that Dunkin Donuts calls "coffee" but I'm not so sure. This is now that third or fourth time I've had DD coffee and the jury is officially in: It sucks. I'm sorry, New Englanders, it really really does.

Two and a half hours later, I had made it. My first Slam! To be honest, despite the fact that the USO is in my own country, it was always the last one I ever intended to visit. From everything I heard it just didn't sound like the tournament for me. Big, loud, crowded, and, well, overwhelming. I'm quite curious to see how I'll react come Monday when the tournament starts, but right now it's pretty perfect. But let's see if I have a nervous breakdown once the temperatures heat up and the vast space that is the BJKNTC gets crammed full of thousands of people.

After watching my raison d'etre of the day win her second qualifying match (more on that later), I went to the Grey Goose bar to celebrate with the famous Honey Deuce, a drink I blogged about years ago. It's steep at $13 (which includes a pretty nifty souvenir cup) but I have to say, it's totally worth it. Sitting and guzzling my drink I met a couple of FD readers (once again, my sultry voice gave me away) and I was having fun chilling out and taking in the sights and sounds.

After I was delightfully buzzed so as to not worry about credit card debt, I decided to do all my souvinir shopping now so as to avoid the crowds come Monday and to hopefully take advantage of the full stock. Most of the sponsors have their own booths or stores and Nike's is pretty solid. I piked up that white "Vamos Rafa" shirt and the "Ventaja Delpo" shirt, then walked over to Lacoste and got a t-shirt and some wristbands. Between those and my many, many, many commemorative cups, I think I'm pretty set.

I was given a proper head's up about the practice court access, or relative lack thereof, so I wasn't too surprised when I hit the practice courts and saw crowds of people with little chance you'd be able to see much. There are five courts next to each other in a row and three sides of the practice court area is completely blocked off by tarps and trees. One side as a direct view through a chain link fence. What does this all mean? Well, it means that you're shit out of luck for good pictures of video if your player is on any court other than the one next to the viewing area. And if your player is on that court but Rafa or Roger is on any of the other four? Yeah, no chance, as the viewing area will be packed full of people trying to see them. So it's pretty tough.

As for autographs and pictures with players, well, you have to want it to win it. This was taking while Rafa was signing and it was a lot of chaos and screaming. If you want the signatures and pictures, you need to stand not where these kids are standing, but towards the front, nearest the player entrance area.

All in all, it was a great first day at the Open. I got to tour the grounds while they were still relatively quiet and really, it was very relaxing day of tennis.

Of course, this being New York, the day wouldn't end in a tight little bow. I went out for dinner and drinks with some friends, got blitzed, stumbled my way onto the train at 1am, and proceeded to pass out, not waking until the conductor dude poked me to wake me up to get me off the train in New Haven. Thank God New Haven was the last stop. I very easily could have found myself across the border otherwise. But I found my way back to the hotel, crashed out at 4:30am, and woke up to do it all again.

August 24, 2010

USO qualies are the best deal in town. I mean, it's free tennis with names that you would totally recognize and storylines galore. So if you're in the NYC area, get your ass down to Flushing Meadows and check it out. You'll invariably run into some of the big boys and girls too, as they're getting their practice in this week.

It's official. On the injured heels of Serena's announcement that she's not going to play the Open due to her foot injury, DelPo has made it official: There will be no defense of the title.

Disappointing but not shocking news. I actually find Serena's announcement more nuclear than DelPo's sparkler firecracker. But at least it's official and we can all move on grieving the best way we know how. Mine involves hard liquor and cookies.

With Serena's withdrawal, Caro will be the top seed in New York. Hee! With DelPo's non-defense, he'll drop out of the top 30. Boo!

August 13, 2010

Microphones in the Players Boxes: For the first time,
microphones have been installed in the player boxes in Arthur Ashe
Stadium, which will help viewers get even closer to the emotion and
drama of the US Open by adding the perspective of the players’ guests as
matches unfold.

July 23, 2010

Gauloises has a good summary of the Delpo brouhaha that took place over Twitter yesterday.

Basically the story is this: Delpo confirmed via Twitter that he's planning on playing the Thailand Open, which is set for September 24. Ok, nice news but that's no big deal, right?

Well then the USTA released their "provisional entry list", lighted some fireworks, and went screaming naked down 5th Avenue that ZOMG!!! DELPO'S PLAYING THE US OPEN!!!

Now, it seems to me that anyone who's seasoned in the goings on of the tennis world would have just shrugged this news off. I mean, duh, he hasn't withdrawn from the USO. Ok. But that doesn't mean he's playing. So the news, well, isn't news at all. Everyone go about their business. Nothing to see here. Move along.

But no. That shit lit up the sports world. All of a sudden there were like, 15 articles in my Reader feed about how Elfie is planning to play the US Open. As if the fact that he's on the provisional list is news. That's like Montreal announcing "Maria Sharapova's playing our tournament!!!" Fucking, duh, it's a mandatory tournament, dingleberries. This isn't newsworthy.

Of course, the USTA smells blood in the water and starts running it's mouth. Not only is he confirmed for the USO, HE'S HITTING AGAIN! You know, because the first organization JMDP's gonna call when he swings a racquet is the USTA. And then other reporters were like, "Bitch, please. I talked to his camp and they say he isn't."

What the fuck ever. The upshot: No one knows when Delpo's coming back. So...nothing's changed. But he tweeted. So don't worry, you guys. He's still alive.

July 20, 2010

Following up on news that Serena's foot injury will require her to miss all of the lead up tournaments to the USO, now comes news that she's possibly, maybe, there's a chance, who knows, questionable for the USO itself. She had her foot surgery this week and is recovering.

It's still unclear why the injury was so extensive that she needed surgery, and why she's now projecting the surgery could keep her out of a tournament that is two months away. She cut her foot on some broken glass after Wimbledon and played with the foot injury at that exo in Belgium. According to her WTT team, she had a cut on her foot and needed stitches. So did she get the stitches before Belgium? Is she just getting them now? I'm so confused. I'm sure she's hurt and she'll need to stay off that foot for a bit, but "stitches" ain't "surgery".

Personally, I'll believe Serena's out of the USO when she fails to show up for her first round match and the umpire calls a forfeit. Until then, I'm not buying the crazy she's selling.

July 16, 2010

New USO Series commercials are out. Well..."new" is kind of overstating it. But even though they look and sound the exact same as last year's series, there are some gems. Here they are, in order of C Note entertainment value:

July 01, 2010

Q. How much are you worried about your knee? Is there a risk you
should skip the Davis Cup tie after Wimbledon?

RAFAEL NADAL:
Yeah. Well, sure, I am a little bit scared about the knee. But, you
know, it happen. I had a treatment after Monte‑Carlo. So I had the
problem. I didn't say nothing before, but you know, guys, how is
everything. I had the problem against Roddick in the semifinals of
Miami.

I don't like to say nothing in that moment because when
you lose, always looks like an excuse. But I can say now I had the
problem after I played in Monte‑Carlo with a little bit of pain on the
knee, on the left knee, because that's what happened there.

After
Monte‑Carlo, I didn't play Barcelona because I had to do a treatment,
new treatment. You know, I tried to play the clay season perfect because
in that moment the right knee was better than the left. But at the same
time I know the knees are not hundred percent recovered. But playing on
clay and maybe on grass, if is not very long matches, can work well.

But the last treatments I did between Monte‑Carlo and Rome was
perfect. I didn't have no one more problem on the left knee. But just I
did one time, and I need to do three times.

I didn't have time
to do it at the right knee before because I had to play. The clay season
was my main goal of the season. After here I gonna do it another time,
no? My goals for me is a big disappointment not be in the Davis Cup on
France, you know. Some confrontations, if you play at home against some
country, maybe you cannot play this one. But playing in France for me is
a very special confrontation and a very big motivation for me.

But
I talked with the captain, I talked with the president of the
Federation a few days ago, and I said, Guys, I never arrive to the US
Open with my hundred percent of conditions. I had last year broken
abdominal, two years ago playing crazy here. After Olympics, I did
arrive very tired. And I really want to try to go there with my best
chances, no, to play, to play my hundred percent.

So I need to
do this treatment after here. If I play Davis Cup, I don't have enough
time to recover and play tournaments, Cincinnati. Everything was perfect
for me last few months, and I need to be ready to finish the season
well. My goal is try to keep having the chance to be No. 1 for the rest
of the season. That's gonna be difficult. But if you are not in hundred
percent of condition, is going to be impossible.

December 01, 2009

But whatever she did, swift action has been taken by the ITF, which announced yesterday that they were putting her on 2-year probation. What the hell does it mean to be on probation? Basically, if she commits another major offense in the next two years then she'll be suspended (yeah right) and fined a minimum of $175,000. Alternatively, if she stays out of trouble, then the fine is only $82,500.

So to wrap it up, no suspension, no million dollar fine, no forfeit of her USO prize money ($350,000), no...anything, really. Which is pretty much what we all figured would happen.

September 15, 2009

Nice USO wrap-up from Steve Tignor. I particularly liked his take on Elf and Kim:

The woman sitting next to me, who was coming from
somewhere else, said, “Did you see del Potro?”

“Yes, I saw him.”

“I liked to watch him when he won,” she said, and put her
hands over her face to imitate his emotional reaction after the final point.
She had hit it: That was why I wanted to see more tennis, to see that emotion
and relief that only a player who has won his first major can conjure. It doesn’t
happen all that often nowadays, which only made the last moments of yesterday’s
final that much more exhilarating. Thanks for sharing it with us, DP.

...

While I’m surprised she beat both Williams
sisters and went all the way so soon, I knew she would bounce back with no
trouble. As with Jennifer Capriati in her comeback at the start of the decade,
if you can hit big and through the court on the women’s tour, you always have a chance.
Kim can do that, and she can move with a gymnast’s sure-footedness—she seemed
to enjoy scaling the wall to get to her husband after the final as much as
anything she did on court. More important, she put a smile back on the face of
women’s tennis a day after Serena had scowled her way out of the tournament.
The trophy ceremony was a love fest and a big welcome back for a favorite of
everyone involved in the sport. Her daughter danced, Mary Jo gave her a hug,
and the guy crying next to her husband was John Dolan, a WTA pr guy who has had
more than his fill of pro egos, but who couldn’t help but become a friend of Kim’s.
Would she have beaten Serena anyway? It’s not a lock, given Williams’ history of returns
from the dead. But Clijsters deserved the win anyway. You should get
something for not dropping an f-bomb at a line judge, shouldn’t you?

So yesterday, while watching the final, I noticed Michelle Collins, Managing Editor for Best Week Ever was all of a sudden tweeting about tennis. And that made me happy. Because seriously, you guys, I LOVE HER. You know what made me happier? The fact that she was totally digging on Elf:

We exchanged a couple of additional tweets and then I tweeted her afterwards:

But just who is this JMDelP character who would almost certainly be
obliterated by the animatronic Federer? Measuring in a 6′6″ tall, he’s
a handsome gentleman with a mature, well-bred face, sinewy caramel logs
for arms, giant, Road Runner circle feet, and a determined will. Also,
he’s only 20 years old, making this last sentence possibly illegal and
worthy of a sex offenders registry. It became clear that rooting for
this Argentinian wunderkind was the only way to go.

...

Watching this giant hot man child cry tears of exhaustion and joy was
easily one of the most rewarding things this lil’ lady has ever
witnessed. It was like the end of Rudy, only with a giant testosterone wolf-faced totem pole in place of the delicate Sean Astin.

Apologies for the silence on the podcast front. We actually did an extensive one during the Toronto/Cincy tournaments but technical issues rendered it useless.

In an attempt to make it up to all you 5 podcast fans (and really, that's including the 4 of us), I now present you a Super Sized FD podcast, which wraps up the USO and looks forward to the end of the season.

And seriously, that's an hour and a half of pure tennis analysis. We were totally on topic this time.

FYI -- You can now listen to the podcasts from the page (click on the blue arrow) and subscribe to the FD podcast feed (look for the link on the upper right above my Twitter updates). You can still download them by right clicking the link.

Hours later and I still can't believe it actually happened, which is totally unfair to Elfie. Here's a guy who has had a steady and workmanlike ascent through the rankings to reach #5. He has gone from being the unfit teen who was reduced to tears by Andy Murray a couple of years ago and embarrassed by Roger Federer only 9 months ago, to being a guy who has taken the last three matches from Rafa on hard courts, pushed Fed to five sets on clay, beating A-Rod twice in a week, pushing Muzz in a tough three setter in Montreal, and dusting his way through the USO draw.

And yet despite all of that I, as well as everyone else (except perhaps one *very* happy British woman) completely wrote him off for the final. No way this giant lug could beat the Maestro/The Federer/Rog. Fed was on a tear and it just didn't seem like Elf's time quite yet.

And for the second day in a row I am absolutely ecstatic when I say this: I was wrong.

DelPo would continue the form that took out Rafa in straights into the final. Except this time, when things got tight and he got down, he didn't throw up his hands and say "too good". He kept fighting, sticking to his game plan (BIG FOREHAND), and playing within himself. And as he did, he somehow wore down TMF and made him look...well...not so much TM.

It was a weird match all around for Roger. His lights out serving, which had previously shown no signs of wobbling, all of a sudden wobbled. Dude couldn't buy a first serve through the first few sets. That combined double digit double faults at key moments, as well as DelPo's lethal returning, ultimately led to Fed barely spinning serves in the fifth set. And once that serve went away, Fed looked concerned. That last set was an AO 09 redux. The forehand was flying all over the place and Fed looked frustrated.

So there you go. One of the most improbable upsets in a damn long time.

I'm not going to pretend that the entire tennis world is happy about this result. But no matter how cold your heart is, you can't ignore the feel-goodiness of this result.

And if you're still pissy about it, I give you the children of Tandil. Come on.

Is the sound of Serena's sponsors' sabers rattling at 9am this morning.

Serena's new and improved "amended" statement:

Hey guys!!!

I want to amend my press statement of yesterday, and want
to make it clear as possible - I want to sincerely apologize FIRST to
the lines woman, Kim Clijsters, the USTA, and tennis fans everywhere
for my inappropriate outburst. I'm a woman of great pride, faith and
integrity, and I admit when I'm wrong.

I need to make it clear to all young people that I handled
myself inappropriately and it's not the way to act -- win or lose, good
call or bad call in any sport, in any manner.

I like to lead by example. We all learn from experiences
both good and bad. I will learn and grow from this, and be a better
person as a result.

Xxxx,

S

Nice to see you've really taken the time to think about this whole situation and let people move on. Oh, except that there's no reason you couldn't have said this yesterday, you know, before the women's final was played so that we could all move on and simply celebrate the good stuff that came out of the USO.

Get. Out. Of the spotlight. It's tacky as fuck.

In case you missed it, here was her original statement:

“Last night everyone could truly see the passion I have for my job.
Now that I have had time to gain my composure, I can see that while
I don’t agree with the unfair line call, in the heat of battle I let my
passion and emotion get the better of me and as a result handled the
situation poorly. I would like to thank my fans and supporters for
understanding that I am human and I look forward to continuing the
journey, both professionally and personally, with you all as I move
forward and grow from this experience.”

September 13, 2009

Back when Kim was about to start her comeback I think I came out and
pretty well said that anyone on the Kimmy bandwagon was crazy. There
was no way that she was going to be able to compete with these girls
who hit harder, were stronger, were fitter, than the competition 4
years ago.

To quote Pam Shriver, "Boy, I have never been more happy to be wrong."

A lot is going to be said about what this means. Fuck it. You know what this means? It means that Kim Clijsters went through a tough draw, beat both Williamses, used her awesome forehand and movement to break down her opponents and win her second Slam. She's won 14 straight matches at the US Open. This is a hell of an achievement from a women that everyone thought at some point was too nice to win *a* Slam, let alone two. She was heady, competitive, and mature. She deserves this and no one should take that away from her. Put the asterisks away, assholes.

Not that Kim's going to care. She's got that bundle of awesome to come home to.

Shit the pants, Jada. You and your Mama earned it.

As for Caro, she acquitted herself well. She didn't roll over for Kim and she has a lot to be proud of. It still trips me out that she's the first out of that young set to get to Slam final. I thought she handled the occasion well. She could have easily pulled an Ana RG 07 and wigged out on that grand stage but she didn't. Loved the beaming smiles from Papa and Mama Wozniacki, too. They raised themselves a good multilingual one.

I'm really glad that these two women put a nice feel-good Coda on this tournament, which could have easily been marred by all the insanity of the past two weeks. Great sportsmanship and respect between these two likeable players.

Ok, yes, it was a sweet shot. But "the best shot I've hit in my life"? I haven't even watched all that many Fed matches but I can count at least 20 shots that were more insane. But whatever floats your dick, Fed.

As for Nole, he was *so* there. He played well enough to put himself into position to take each set. But I think this match highlights what I will call, The Nole Conundrum.

Novak cares about the crowd. We all know that. He wants to be loved and he wants to be cheered for. And if this tournament will be known for anything other than 16, The Shot, The Abs, or The Failure, it will be known for Nole's Redemption. He finally played with a smile on his face and with an eye towards entertaining the crowd. No shame in any of that and I love him for all of it.

But we also know there's another side of Nole. And that is the fiery, ultra competitive, I want to beat you badly and piss in your skull side. In order for him to win Slams, he absolutely needs to let that dog out. He has to scream, pound his chest, get that crazy "I'm gonna kill you" look in his eyes. But he's so burned by what happened last year in the Roddick match that in these tight moments, against crowd faves like Fed, he refuses to let that guy take over.

And to me, that was the difference in this match. At the key moments Nole couldn't/wouldn't play with the necessary intensity. And he refused to vocalize his intent and get into Fed's head. His lack of fire made the match a foregone conclusion, despite the close scoreline.

I love Novak. Always have. And I'll continue to root for him in any match he plays (yes, even if it's against Rafa or Muzz). But if he can't figure out how to solve his Jekyl/Hyde problem he'll never win another Slam, and that to me would make him a huge underachiever.

And so Fed gets a crack at 16 against Elfie tomorrow. He hasn't lost at the USO in like, 3,000 days. So let the suspense build accordingly.

“Last night everyone could truly see the passion I have for my job. Now that I have had time to gain my composure, I can see that while
I don’t agree with the unfair line call, in the heat of battle I let my
passion and emotion get the better of me and as a result handled the
situation poorly. I would like to thank my fans and supporters for
understanding that I am human and I look forward to continuing the
journey, both professionally and personally, with you all as I move
forward and grow from this experience.”

Is that supposed to be an apology? I fully expected Serena to come out today and issue an apology. This, combined with the pithy $10.5k fires me up. I'm ready to move on but Jesus, your brand of crazy is something else, Serna.

I shall be returning my 46 copies of "On The Line" forthwith.

Oh, and here's the WTA's statement:

Serena Williams’ conduct last night was inappropriate and unprofessional. No matter what the circumstances, no player should be allowed to engage in such behavior without suffering consequences. I have spoken with the USTA about this matter and I agree with the action they have taken.

Serena
is a great player who has done so much for our sport and I am certain
she will continue to be a role model to millions of young women who
want to play the game and excel as Serena has done. As a role model,
it's important for a leader like Serena to step forward and recognize
her behavior last night was unacceptable, and I believe that her
statement earlier today is an acknowledgement of her responsibility to
her fans.

Gottta love how carefully worded that statement is. Serena has no responsibility to her fans. That's just stupid and completely irrelevant that she "acknowledged" whatever it is that's supposed to be. What she does have is a responsibility to the sport she plays and to others involved in it. She owes an apology to the lineswoman, plain and simple. It's a damn shame that she doesn't seem to want to acknowledge that.